Top Performers
This is pretty much the easiest top performers entry I have ever written for a camp as there were really three guys who stood out from the rest...
Shabazz Muhammad
I have said this before and I will say it again-- when the final rankings come out, Shabazz Muhammad should be the #1 overall prospect for the class of 2012. The camp MVP dominated the entire weekend, and by the Top 25 game the crowd was holding its breath every time he touched the ball-- expecting another dunk. Muhammad's outside shot wasn't even falling this weekend, but it didn't matter as he took the ball to the rim time after time. When he got to the rim he finished with the kind of violence that mixtapers dream of.
Andre Drummond
Drummond had plenty of opportunities to go up against other quality bigs and each time he took the challenge head on. The marquee matchup pitted Drummond (the top big man in the class) vs Isaiah Austin (the #2 big man in the class) against each other. While Austin impressed at times, Drummond won the matchup with room to spare. Drummond converted on a number of right hooks, but when he spins baseline... GET OUT OF THE WAY, cause he might just throw the ball down on top of you, over you, or around you.
Anthony Bennett
No other prospect has raised his stock as quickly as Anthony Bennett has in the last two weeks. He is quite simply a matchup nightmare and has finally realized that fact. The light has gone on. He is too physical for opposing threes but too quick for opposing fours. When he has a bigger defender on him, he will pull up and hit the three, but when he finds himself with the size advantage, he uses it. At 6'7" 235 lbs of pure muscle, it can be difficult to stop him from getting to the hoop and finishing strong.
Rumors and Tidbits
(1) Anthony Bennett- Findlay Prep prospect Bennett has been hearing from west coast schools Oregon, Washington, UNLV, and Arizona for a little while, but some of the East Coast powers have started to express interest. UConn has reportedly shown more interest of late and Duke has made contact to gauge interest.
(2) Kaleb Tarczewski- Tarczewski will take 3 visits this month to Kansas 6/10 (again), North Carolina 6/13-14, and Arizona 6/20-21. Arizona will reportedly be playing catch-up while many feel that Kaleb's week-long swing from Kansas to Carolina could be crucial as both sit at the top of his list-- Kansas being the long-time frontrunner and Carolina being the quickly rising major player for Tarczewski's services.
(3) Shabazz Muhammad- I heard from multiple sources this weekend that Muhammad is "sorta pissed off" that he is being considered a "UCLA lock" at this point in his recruitment. That is not to say that he is not leaning towards UCLA or any other school, but for a prospect that has been careful to build his brand and appear open to many high-major schools at every step, talk of being a "lock" has gotten tiresome for him.
(4) Dave Miller- ESPN announcer Dave Miller did an excellent job this weekend and gave an inspiring speech to the campers about using basketball and not letting it use you. When talking about NBA players mismanaging finances, he pointed to the value of degrees and education at Virginia, Stanford and Duke. He also listed a number of coaches that would not touch recruits, regardless of talent, if said recruit was known to be close with any drug users or dealers (Rick Barnes, Roy Williams, and Coach Krzyzewski were mentioned).
(5) Shaq Goodwin- Earlier this month Shaq Goodwin was rumored to be down to UCLA and Memphis (while also listing Miami, Georgia, and Tennessee). Memphis was looking good as Goodwin has been rumored to prefer a school closer to home and had previously expressed an interest in playing with his teammate (and Memphis commit) Damien Wilson. However, last night it was announced that UCLA has hired Atlanta Celtics (Goodwin's AAU team) coach Corey McCray on as an assistant coach. McCray is known to be very close to Goodwin (and teammate/ Top100 UCLA recruit Jordan Adams).
(6) Tobacco Road Tidbit- Marcus Paige (UNC commit) and Tyler Lewis (NC State commit) went at each other hard over the weekend. I polled five writers/evaluators in attendance to score the matchup. Paige came out on top 3-2 with almost all claiming it was too close to call.
(7) Video of Pangos Action- Can be found HERE
